Liu Haoran on Following His Heart
Mainland Chinese actor Liu Haoran (刘昊然) is enjoying a smooth-sailing career since making his debut with the romance film, Beijing Love Story <北京爱情故事>. Receiving critical acclamation for his performances, he bagged several awards that recognized his skills as an actor. With significant popularity and a “high flow” celebrity label, he continues to receive support through his memorable roles. In an interview, Haoran shares his thoughts on achieving such success at the age of 23.
Although he is now reaping the fruits of his labor, Haoran had doubts about attending the Affiliated Secondary School of Beijing Dance Academy. Haoran revealed that he once questioned himself whether it was right to study performing arts. He said, “The most difficult thing at that time was the feeling of being very lost.”
The actor initially thought he would be like most people and study hard to find an internship after graduation, but instead, he pursued performing arts. Feeling far behind others in the class, he felt invisible due to his soft-spoken nature until he was handpicked by director Chen Sicheng (陈思诚) to star in Beijing Love Story.
Since then, his confidence grew with each character that viewers become fans of. Some notable roles include the young and clever detective Qin Feng in Detective Chinatown <唐人街探案>, the cheerful campus student Yu Huai in With You <最好的我们>, and the gentle-looking Lu Guichen in Novoland: Eagle Flag <九州缥缈录>. Receiving acknowledgment, Haoran relaxed and slowly came out of his shell to interact with others, building close friendship ties with many celebrities older than him, including He Jiong (何炅), Zhang Ruoyun (张若昀), and Yuan Hong (袁弘). Despite the age difference, their mentalities are similar due to Haoran’s mature mindset.
He displayed his independent and critical thinking while dissecting the line, “People always choose between the right and easy things,” from his new film Coffee Or Tea? <一点就到家>. He expressed, “Everyone is trying to choose between right and wrong when you probably don’t even know which is which. So, they are actually just choosing between what’s hardest and easiest. Personally, there is no way to judge what is right or wrong before deciding, because only you can decide while you are on the path. Others may be right in taking a particular path, but you could be wrong to be on that path. But in the end, what’s most important for young people is to act on it and not simply think.”
His thinking is similar to his character in Coffee or Tea, a loser who constantly fails in his business ventures and eventually succeeds in a different place while following his heart. In reality, he also follows his heart as an actor. He explained that he is very down-to-earth and says anything he wants without thinking about his image. “I am an actor who is not like an actor,” Haoran joked.
Source: Ent163
This article is written by Minna for JayneStars.com.
